Chapter 92 The fake prince ascends the throne as emperor!
After Zhou Xi left the Duke of Ying's Mansion, he returned to the palace.
Other princes were able to move out of the palace and build their own residences, but Zhou Xi, as the crown prince, had to live in the palace. The Zichen Palace where he lived was close to the Panlong Palace where the emperor lived, so his every move was almost under the emperor's eyes.
It is still very difficult to sit securely on the throne of the crown prince, but Zhou Xi feels that he has been reborn and is no longer defenseless against the emperor. He also has Si Yuan to help him from outside, which is much better than the difficult situation in his previous life.
Zhou Xi returned to the palace and planned to go to Panlong Hall to pay a visit to the emperor first, and then return to Zichen Palace.
No matter what, we still have to do a good job of superficial work.
In the eyes of outsiders, the prince was filial and respectful to the emperor, never overstepped his authority, had outstanding abilities, and was friendly to his brothers. He was a perfect prince.
Even smart people know that it is impossible for a prince who is truly friendly to his brothers to suppress the eldest prince and others, but the fact that the prince can do such a good job on the surface is enough.
After all, there are only a few smart people in this world. Most people only look at the surface of people and things.
Just as the emperor appears to be extremely fond of the prince, everyone thinks that the prince is favored by the emperor.
The prince appeared to be filial and respectful to the emperor, so everyone thought that the emperor had a very filial son. No one cared that this very filial son was secretly thinking about how to kill the emperor and take the throne himself.
Zhou Xi came to Panlong Hall to pay a visit to show his filial piety, and the emperor immediately put aside his official duties to meet him to show his favor.
As soon as Zhou Xi entered the palace, he bowed to the emperor respectfully and intimately: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May you be blessed with good health!"
The emperor waited until Zhou Xi finished his greetings before saying in a doting tone, "You are such a filial child. I have told you so many times that you don't need to perform such greetings anymore. There is no need for us to be so polite to each other, father and son."
Zhou Xi laughed in his heart, it was just for the sake of hearing such words, he would be stupid to take them seriously, but he still had to show a friendly and happy smile on his face: "Your son's salute to your father represents your filial piety and respect for your father, how can it be too polite?" If the dog emperor really wanted to be exempted from the salute, why wait until he had finished saluting before saying such nonsense?
Zhou Xi thought so sarcastically in his heart.
The emperor thought Zhou Xi was unaware of his own life experience, and looked at him as if he were a chess piece in his hand, thinking he could play with his life as he pleased.
Zhou Xi knew all the truth but pretended to be ignorant, pretending to be a filial son to confuse the emperor, but in his heart he was already thinking about how to kill the emperor and take the throne.
If the emperor doesn't die, he and his father will have to die, and so will the entire Duke of Ying's family.
Not only must the emperor die, but he must die before his true identity is revealed, so that he, the fake prince, can legitimately ascend the throne.
Zhou Xi's acting skills were so excellent that he didn't show any sign of abnormality and didn't arouse the emperor's suspicion.
The emperor asked, "Did you go to the Duke of Ying's mansion today?"
Zhou Xi was not at all surprised when he heard the emperor's question. Although his whereabouts today were kept secret from outsiders, he did not hide it from the emperor. He even took the initiative to bring along a spy sent by the emperor, so it was normal for the emperor to know that he had left the palace and gone to the Duke of Ying's Mansion today.
Zhou Xi bowed his head slightly and replied respectfully, "Yes, I heard that Duke Ying was feeling unwell today and was recuperating at home, so I went to visit him at his mansion."
In fact, Si Yuan was temporarily not attending court under the pretext of recuperating at home due to illness, and was secretly helping Zhou Xi do some things that it was inconvenient for him, the crown prince, to do in person.
Because the only person Zhou Xi can truly trust is his father Si Yuan.
The emperor was a little surprised to see Zhou Xi admit his whereabouts so easily, but then he thought, now everyone knows that the Duke of England has chosen to support the prince, and there is really no need for the prince to hide the fact that he went to the Duke of England's mansion to visit the Duke of England who was recuperating.
The emperor thought of his beloved son who was still being raised in the Duke of Ying's mansion, and could not help asking, "Did you see Jing'er when you went to the Duke of Ying's mansion today? He has not come to the palace to accompany me for several days. He should be at home tending to his father. I wonder if he is okay?"
The emperor felt very unhappy when he thought that his beloved son was actually taking care of the Duke of England.
When Zhou Xi heard the emperor calling Zhou Jing "Jing'er" so affectionately, he sneered in his heart, but he knew what he should say to make the emperor unhappy, so he did not tell the emperor how unfilial Zhou Jing was and how he did not care at all about the Duke of Yingguo who was recuperating at home. Instead, he said, "The Duke of Yingguo's son is indeed worthy of his father's love for him. He is an extremely filial person. When the Duke of Yingguo was unwell, he was always by his side serving him medicine. When I went to visit the Duke of Yingguo, I happened to meet the son of Zhou who had just served the Duke of Yingguo. He looked a little haggard. He must have been worried about the Duke of Yingguo's illness and couldn't sleep last night..."
If he told the emperor how unfilial Zhou Jing was to Si Yuan, the emperor would only feel happy. After all, the emperor did not want his son to be filial to a fake father.
But if he talked about how filial Zhou Jing was to Si Yuan, the emperor, as a real father, would only feel jealous. It just so happened that it was the emperor himself who replaced the son, and this situation was also caused by the emperor himself. Even if the emperor was jealous and aggrieved to death, he had to endure it now.
As for the emperor’s revenge in the future? Are they still afraid? It sounds as if if they don't make the emperor jealous and aggrieved now, the emperor will leave them a way to survive after revealing his background in the future.
Therefore, Zhou Xi is now committed to using the most innocent expression and saying the most hurtful words to the emperor's heart, trying to anger the emperor to death, and also saving him and his father from having to think of ways to legitimately kill the emperor in the future.
The emperor was indeed as Zhou Xi thought. He was jealous and aggrieved because of the image of Zhou Jing, who was extremely filial to Si Yuan, as created by Zhou Xi. His beloved son had never taken care of him when he was sick, but he couldn't sleep at night because of Zhou Si Yuan's illness.
Zhou Siyuan deserves to die! He robbed his son of his filial piety!
The emperor would not reflect at all that it was his son-changing that led to this situation. He would only unreasonably put the blame on others. After all, he was the emperor and it was impossible for him to be wrong.
The emperor's good mental state of resolutely not wasting time and energy and doubting himself made him hate Si Yuan and Zhou Xi even more, and his desire to kill them even stronger.
But now the emperor has no way to seize the military power from Si Yuan, and he is afraid. He still needs Zhou Xi to continue to be the shield prince, and he cannot vent his anger on Zhou Xi. In the end, the emperor still feels aggrieved.
The emperor was in no mood to continue playing the fatherly and filial role with Zhou Xi. He said calmly, "Really? Jing'er is indeed a filial and good child." Unfortunately, he was filial to the wrong person. "You must have worked hard visiting the Duke of Yingguo. Go back to the Purple Palace and have a rest."
Zhou Xi raised his head and glanced at the emperor's hands, which were tightly grasping the armrests of the chair, with veins bulging out, and said contentedly, "Your son will take his leave."
Zhou Xi left the Panlong Hall and returned to his own Zichen Palace.
Most of the palace servants in the Zichen Palace were spies sent by the concubines of various palaces, as well as monitors planted by the emperor himself. Except for some loyal servants that Zhou Xi brought out from the cold palace, there were almost no his people.
But after these years, with the help of Si Yuan, Zhou Xi has already subdued all the palace residents of Zichen Palace.
Most of these palace servants became double agents, helping him pass on misleading intelligence messages.
Some palace people who were not sure of their ability to incite rebellion were driven out by Zhou Xi using the emperor's men. When the concubines who had placed spies found that their own spies had been removed, they investigated and found that the people who drove away their spies were all sent by the emperor. They did not dare to confront the emperor head-on and could only give up.
The people that Zhou Xi wanted to drive away from the emperor were also driven away by spies planted by Empress Dowager Chen and Concubine Chen.
Similarly, the emperor followed the clues and found out that they were Empress Dowager Chen and Concubine Chen Guifei, but he could only turn a blind eye and not pursue the matter any further.
Zhou Xi used the opponent's force to his advantage and built his Zichen Palace so that water could not get in, like an iron barrel.
However, due to the existence of double agents, the masterminds behind placing spies in the Zichen Palace were unaware of Zhou Xi's control over the Zichen Palace.
Especially the emperor. Through the false information passed on by those spies who had betrayed him, the emperor thought that the Purple Palace was a big sieve and he, the emperor, could easily control it.
In fact, the information the emperor knew about Zhou Xi was all what Zhou Xi wanted him to know.
The control over the Zichen Palace made Zhou Xi relax a little after returning to the palace. He sat on the recliner, stretched his body and leaned back, picked up the book next to him that he had read halfway last time and continued reading.
However, he did not read the contents of these books. Instead, he was thinking about what happened during his meeting with the emperor today - daily self-reflection, this is what Zhou Xi must do every day.
He needs to review his performance in front of the emperor today and see if there is anything that needs improvement. After all, he is now like walking on a tightrope, and the day when the emperor of his previous life revealed his background and gave him poisoned wine is not too far away.
Zhou Xi was not naive enough to think that no matter how things changed, the emperor would reveal his life experience according to the time point of his previous life.
The emperor would reveal his background based on when the fake prince defeated the eldest prince and others.
After all, the eldest prince and others have fallen, and it is time for Zhou Jing, the real prince, to return to his position. Naturally, he, the fake prince, is of no use anymore.
This is also the reason why Zhou Xi has suppressed the eldest prince and others over the years instead of directly solving them.
In his previous life, he was able to defeat the eldest prince and others under such difficult circumstances. In this life, he has the help of the Duke of Yingzhou, which holds military power, and the assistance of his past life memories. How could he not be able to quickly defeat the eldest prince and others?
However, he was not fully prepared and had no plans to take direct action against the emperor for the time being, so he kept the eldest prince and others to postpone the time when the emperor would reveal his background.
Zhou Xi leaned back on the recliner, closed his eyes and thought deeply. At this moment, a palace servant came from outside the Zichen Palace to report: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the Seventh Prince requests to see you."
Zhou Xi opened his eyes and said, "Let him in."
Zhou Xi sat up straight from the recliner, put down the book in his hand, and looked towards the door.
At this time, a chubby little boy ran in from the door, shouting happily as he ran: "Crown Prince Brother! Crown Prince Brother!"
This little boy is the seventh prince. He is only five years old this year and is very young and cute. His mother is Wang Zhaoyi, who is said to be a good friend of Li Zhaoyi, the former deposed concubine in the cold palace.
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